Together in faith: the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life

Light fills the lounge of the new Faith and Spiritual Life office. From the floor-to-ceiling windows, you can look down onto a small courtyard below, and across to the far corridor of Mitchell Hall, now abuzz with students entering engineering studios.

This is a calm spot in the midst of campus hub-bub. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s got a different vibe from its old space in the John Deutsch 카지노게임사이트 Centre. That office had the same inclusive philosophy, to be sure, but its dark wood-panelled walls and limited space for private conversations gave the office a more formal, almost forbidding, feel.

The new Office of Faith and Spiritual Life has an airy, plant-filled lounge with adjacent kitchen, perfect for drop-ins by students and others. It also has two offices in which people can meet privately with one of the four university chaplains. Next door is the interfaith room, used for a drop-in lunchtime singing group, Friday Muslim prayers, and other campus gatherings. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s also increasingly used by off-campus faith and community groups.

Altogether, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a welcoming space for people of all faiths 카지노 게임 컬렉션� or no faith at all 카지노 게임 컬렉션� to find solace, guidance, or simply a little quiet time.

The doors of the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s chaplain카지노 게임 컬렉션�s office have always been open to everyone on campus, even from the early days of the university카지노 게임 컬렉션�s first chaplain, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Padre카지노 게임 컬렉션� Laverty, who came to Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s in 1947. But it was the university카지노 게임 컬렉션�s second chaplain, Brian Yealland (MDiv카지노 게임 컬렉션�72), who brought the interfaith model to campus. And for his successor, it was a natural fit. A member of the Religious Society of Friends 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Quakers 카지노 게임 컬렉션� Kate Johnson (MDiv카지노 게임 컬렉션�06), believes that the Divine speaks to everyone in their own personal way. She shares her workspace 카지노 게임 컬렉션� and workload 카지노 게임 컬렉션� with three assistant chaplains, each bringing their own worldview to the office. And thanks to the support of an anonymous donor, Kate has been able to expand some of their programming, to build community while working to address issues like food insecurity and isolation.

The act of making and sharing food is a powerful way to bring people together. In addition to organizing communal dinners for stressed-out students at exam time, Wendy Luella Perkins (MTS카지노 게임 컬렉션�97), a Unitarian Universalist minister, runs two cooking programs through the school year. Cooking with Grandmas brings together members of the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Women카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Association and students to cook and share a meal at the QWA카지노 게임 컬렉션�s Albert Street space. It became so popular that it now has a spin-off, Cooking with Kingstonians, which brings together community members with students to cook and share vegan meals at St. James Anglican Church.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�At least half of the women who volunteer with Cooking with Grandmas are Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s alumni,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Wendy Luella. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�And about half of the Cooking with Kingstonians volunteers are also alumni. A rich part of my work is that I get to be involved with volunteers 카지노 게임 컬렉션� to create something together. On the surface, it looks like the Grandmas and the Kingstonians are helping the students, and of course they are, but I would say that they receive more than they give. They all say 카지노 게임 컬렉션�What a great experience. I카지노 게임 컬렉션�ve never met so many students from different backgrounds and different cultures and different places in the world, and studying different things.카지노 게임 컬렉션� So alumni who live here have the opportunity to stay connected with Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s in really interesting ways.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�The idea is that the Grandmas and the Kingstonians buy the food and bring the recipes, but essentially the students 카지노 게임 컬렉션� with the volunteers카지노 게임 컬렉션� help 카지노 게임 컬렉션� are making the food. So, some students come and they don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t know how to use a knife. So they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re getting support: 카지노 게임 컬렉션�This is the safe way to use a knife.카지노 게임 컬렉션� or 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Look, you cut up this pepper, but there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a whole piece around the stem that still can be used and eaten.카지노 게임 컬렉션� In many small ways, there are skills that get shared.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�The students learn practical skills, so there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s the joy of that, but they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re also building their own capacity, and I can see the pride that gets experienced. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Oh, I totally learned to how to devein a pepper and get the most out of it.카지노 게임 컬렉션� There was a young woman making banana bread with the Grandmas. And at first, she said, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Oh, I don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t bake!카지노 게임 컬렉션� But there she was, stirring things up, learning at the side of someone who bakes a lot, and just feeling pride and joy in knowing she could do something she didn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t think she could.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

And after the cooking, there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s the eating. And the conversation.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�We sit around the table, we have an appetizer, a main, and a dessert that we have made together, and then there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s conversation at the table. Usually, I do a go-around and have people say their names. And then I might pose a question, like 카지노 게임 컬렉션�What카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a sign of spring that you카지노 게임 컬렉션�ve noticed?카지노 게임 컬렉션� So it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s like a low-investment kind of question, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s not like, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Tell me the most important thing about your research!카지노 게임 컬렉션� It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a light question, and then we go around the table while we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re eating. And then people start talking and asking questions. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s very relaxed. There카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a lot of laughter.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�And as a bonus, the students get to take home the leftovers. Who doesn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t love leftovers?

카지노 게임 컬렉션�But truthfully, a not insignificant portion of the students who come are struggling to make ends meet. We have a bursary available; it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s five dollars to come to these events, but five bucks is a lot for many students. At the end of the month, you may not have much left for groceries. At an institution like Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, there카지노 게임 컬렉션�s an assumption that all our students come from middle-class or wealthy families, but that카지노 게임 컬렉션�s not true. There카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a great diversity of students. And for many international students, their families have done everything they can to get their child to a world-class university, to pay for their housing and their tuition, and don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t have a lot left over.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Imam Abdullah El-Asmar has been with the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life for two years. He splits his week between this office and Kingston-area penitentiaries, as the local Muslim chaplain for Correctional Services. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�They카지노 게임 컬렉션�re two very different populations,카지노 게임 컬렉션� he says, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�with very different needs.카지노 게임 컬렉션� Ideally, he카지노 게임 컬렉션�d like to spend more time on campus. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�I feel that the work that I do here has more of a direct impact on the students카지노 게임 컬렉션� lives. In the prison, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a program: they come, they attend, they go back to their cells, and life goes on. But here, they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re living in society, they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re interacting with people, they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re learning, they카지노 게임 컬렉션�re growing, and they카지노 게임 컬렉션�ll go on to their careers. So whatever happens here in this environment really has a lot of impact on their growth, on their future. So I feel that we have a positive effect on them. Not to say that I don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t have an effect on the prisoners I see! But here, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s more immediate, it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s more felt, and I think it카지노 게임 컬렉션�s more needed.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

He is, he stresses, an interfaith chaplain, like his three colleagues, and welcomes visits from all students. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�But it just so happens,카지노 게임 컬렉션� he laughs, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�that I카지노 게임 컬렉션�m Muslim, I카지노 게임 컬렉션�m an imam, so the majority 카지노 게임 컬렉션� but not all 카지노 게임 컬렉션� of the people I work with are also Muslim.카지노 게임 컬렉션� And he says, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Muslim students face the same issues as every other student 카지노 게임 컬렉션� stress, anxiety, depression 카지노 게임 컬렉션� but they may come to me because they want to get answers that come from an Islamic understanding on how to deal with these situations. So I feel I provide that kind of specialized service. It may be 카지노 게임 컬렉션�What can I draw upon to help me through this?카지노 게임 컬렉션� as well as practical problem-solving. So we can discuss with them how to talk to their teachers about an issue, what resources the university provides, and also, how we can help them to have conversations about accommodations for religious holidays, for instance.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

A week before I met Abdullah, the world was rocked with the news of the terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. He tells me how he and his colleagues came together for the campus community.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�The office was busy!카지노 게임 컬렉션� he says. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�I made it a point to be here on campus, so I took time off from my other job to be here for students, so at our Friday service, I addressed the congregation, and so did Kate. And that same evening, we held a gathering of remembrance in the interfaith room. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a circle of remembrance, meditation, and invocation. A lot of people came out that night, and we talked about the events in New Zealand. People just spoke about their feelings and their fears. A lot of emotion was let out. A lot of it was in a positive, constructive way, and I think that was a nice outlet for them to come here, express themselves, and feel safe.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Even if they couldn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t make sense of this tragedy, this was a place where they could feel vulnerable and afraid and angry, together with others feeling all the same emotions. There was also a public vigil in Kingston that attracted more than 150 people, all standing together in mourning, hope, and reconciliation.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�An attack on one faith is an attack on all faiths,카지노 게임 컬렉션� says Abdullah. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�An attack on a worshipper is an attack on all worshippers. So we feel a lot of solidarity for our Christian and Jewish neighbours and we카지노 게임 컬렉션�ve seen that outpouring of support in our communities. So that gives us a lot of comfort, that this is not the general population feeling enmity against the Muslim community. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s a small minority of extremist, radical people. It makes us feel at ease to know that we stand together against violence, against hate, against extremism, no matter which place they come from.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�At the end of the day, we all want the same things. We are all people who are worshipping God, and we want to live our lives to the fullest, in terms of being as spiritual as we can and expressing our faith in the best way we can. And there is no faith out there that calls for anybody to be hurtful or violent to their neighbour. It doesn카지노 게임 컬렉션�t exist! These are radical interpretations by extremists who are deluded. And unfortunately, sometimes they are seen as being representatives of that faith.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Nathan Brinklow (Thanyehténhas) is a part-time adviser in the Office of Faith and Spiritual Life, balancing his work here with a busy schedule as an instructor in Mohawk language and culture, both at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s and on nearby Tyendinaga Territory. Like many people whose lives take a spiritual path, his journey took some detours, from his original goal to become an Anglican priest. As he describes it, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�a series of nudges카지노 게임 컬렉션� led him back to his roots. A member of the Turtle Clan, he is a speaker in the longhouse, the traditional spiritual and political organization of the Haudenosaunee.

Although he카지노 게임 컬렉션�s in the office less than the others, Nathan is available to act as a frontline team member to students looking for help. He says, though, that due to the addition of other resources at Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s, the requests for help with resources specifically for Indigenous students has decreased somewhat. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�If a student wants to talk to somebody specifically about finding cultural services or gaining cultural perspectives,카지노 게임 컬렉션� he says, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�they can make contact through Indigenous Initiatives. And of course Four Directions [Indigenous Student Centre] has always been there. But this is one more place for them.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Still, students find Nathan when 카지노 게임 컬렉션� and where 카지노 게임 컬렉션� they need him. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Things just happen,카지노 게임 컬렉션� he says with a smile. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�Students connect with us in different places, in different ways. Abdullah may connect with students at prayer. Kate and I meet students at events; Wendy Luella connects with them through food. I connect with students in my classroom.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Nathan also connects with the Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s alumni community, officiating, often in collaboration with Kate, at formal events. At a recent Grant Hall Society dinner, the two debuted their hybridization of a traditional Mohawk opening. They took turns, Nathan speaking in Mohawk, Kate in English, each with the appropriate subtitles broadcast on the wall behind them.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�I don카지노 게임 컬렉션�t use the word 카지노 게임 컬렉션�prayer,카지노 게임 컬렉션�카지노 게임 컬렉션� Nathan says of this oration. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s tricky; we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re a secular institution and the Indigenization of events poses a challenge when the secular and the sacred aren카지노 게임 컬렉션�t as separate as they are in the non-Indigenous world. While some people, in their personal practice, think of these words as a prayer 카지노 게임 컬렉션� they are praying to someone 카지노 게임 컬렉션� my understanding has always been that this is more of an acknowledgement and a way to say 카지노 게임 컬렉션�thank you.카지노 게임 컬렉션� We say 카지노 게임 컬렉션�thank you카지노 게임 컬렉션� to the people who made our dinner, we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re going to thank the people who came to the event. But it also extends out into the rest of the world, so we also send thanks and greetings to all these other things on the earth and all the things we카지노 게임 컬렉션�re working on together.

카지노 게임 컬렉션�For a lot of people, it will be their very first time to hear Mohawk, and to see, in context, this piece of our tradition at this big event. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s not just stuck in the Indigenous language classroom. It카지노 게임 컬렉션�s in this real part of the university, not just in the small isolated clusters.카지노 게임 컬렉션�

As the full-time chaplain of Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s 카지노게임사이트, Kate Johnson works a 40-hour week, and then some. During office hours, she sees a steady flow of visitors, some just dropping by, others who make appointments for individual counselling. While the resources of the office are open to Queen카지노 게임 컬렉션�s faculty and staff, most of Kate카지노 게임 컬렉션�s time, however, is spent with students. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�I get many referrals from professors,카지노 게임 컬렉션� she says, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�who see students struggling in one way or another.카지노 게임 컬렉션� For students nervous about talking to a chaplain, she is reassuring. 카지노 게임 컬렉션�About 75 percent of my work with them is active listening. I tell them, 카지노 게임 컬렉션�You get to direct the conversation.카지노 게임 컬렉션�카지노 게임 컬렉션�

Outside the office, Kate is active with fellow members of the Kingston Interfaith Council. She sees a lot of benefit in growing the town-gown collaborations among members of the faith community and other community support organizations. For instance, she initiated a partnership with the local chapter of Bereaved Families of Ontario, which now uses the interfaith room for its meetings.

In addition to finding areas in which they can share resources, members of the Kingston interfaith community often find themselves coming together in solidarity in times of tragedy. As this story was in development, there was another terrorist attack, this time on Christian worshippers in a church in Sri Lanka. On behalf of the local interfaith community, Kate Johnson posted this open letter on Facebook: